Gypsy and Traveller Girls: Silence, Agency and Power

358 Pages·2019·4.56 MB·English

by  Geetha Marcus

G ypsy and s
t
u
d
ie
Traveller Girls s
in
c
h
ild
h
o
Silence, Agency and Power o
d
a
n
d
Geetha Marcus y
o
u
t
h
Studies in Childhood and Youth
Series Editors
Afua Twum-Danso Imoh
University of Sheffield
Sheffield, UK
Nigel Thomas
University of Central Lancashire
Preston, UK
Spyros Spyrou
European University Cyprus
Nicosia, Cyprus
Penny Curtis
University of Sheffield
Sheffield, UK
This well-established series embraces global and multi-disciplinary
scholarship on childhood and youth as social, historical, cultural and
material phenomena. With the rapid expansion of childhood and youth
studies in recent decades, the series encourages diverse and emerging
theoretical and methodological approaches. We welcome proposals
which explore the diversities and complexities of children’s and young
people’s lives and which address gaps in the current literature relating to
childhoods and youth in space, place and time.
Studies in Childhood and Youth will be of interest to students and
scholars in a range of areas, including Childhood Studies, Youth
Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, Geography, Politics, Psychology,
Education, Health, Social Work and Social Policy.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14474
Geetha Marcus
Gypsy and Traveller
Girls
Silence, Agency and Power
Geetha Marcus
University of Glasgow
Glasgow, UK
Studies in Childhood and Youth
ISBN 978-3-030-03702-4 ISBN 978-3-030-03703-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03703-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018961183
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse
of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by
similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt
from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein
or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Cover image: © Vladimir Ceresnak/Alamy Stock Photo
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
As an academic, former teacher and headteacher who has worked in the
state and independent sectors in Scottish education, and as a British
citizen of minority ethnic origin, I have developed a long-standing
interest in circumstances that might adversely impact on the edu-
cational experiences of members of minority groups. It was initially
through my work as a teacher engaging with Gypsy and Traveller chil-
dren and their families in the north of Scotland, that I developed some
first-hand knowledge of how their experiences in and out of school
influences their education and social outlook.
Early in my teaching career, a young boy in my class announced that
his grandfather was a storyteller and asked if he could come to tell the
class his stories during Story Telling Festival Week. A dapper looking
grandfather in a fine tweed jacket and cap, with gold rings on his fin-
gers, walked in and introduced himself as Stanley Robertson. Little
did I know then, what a famous storyteller and singer he was. Stanley
entertained the children with his wild, wonderful tales and sang songs.
He came to see us several times when I was a teacher in this private
school. One day, at a School Assembly in which he was performing, a
senior teacher took me aside and whispered, ‘We don’t have folk like
v
vi Preface
him in our school’. At the time, I had no idea what she meant or why
she would have said such a thing. He was a fantastic storyteller and
the children loved him. She was being derogatory, and I sensed racist,
but I could not understand why one white person had a problem with
another white person. Stanley never returned to that school and it was
the last time I saw him. It was in conducting my doctoral study that
I learned that the Elphinstone Institute at the University of Aberdeen
had archived work of Stanley Robertson, Scottish Traveller, storyteller,
ballad singer and piper. I tried to make contact again, but discovered he
passed away in 2009.
I also discovered that relatively little research has been undertaken on
Scottish Gypsies and Travellers, who have lived in Scotland since the
twelfth century, making them one of Britain’s oldest nomadic commu-
nities. Sometimes referred to as the ‘mist people’ (Neat 1996: vii; Whyte
2001: 163; Smith 2002; Stewart 2008), Gypsy and Traveller lives are
cloaked in invisibility. Although ostensibly ‘white’ and bearing little
physical distinctiveness from the majority Scottish population, Gypsies
and Travellers are often visibly absent while in plain sight, yet patholog-
ically present in the Scottish imagination (Mirza 2015: 3). The indig-
enous perspective is captured through the rich oral tradition within
Gypsy and Traveller communities, but this ‘insider’ worldview on the
lives and experiences of Gypsies and Travellers in Scotland is not well
recognised or appreciated in scholarly studies. The version of history
we are taught is largely stories of heroes and villains, history that takes
place in grand buildings and battlefields. It is often silent about our
shared, inner and domestic histories, the narratives of the rest of us, the
everyday battles of those who live quietly and privately in anonymous
terraced houses, in caravans or on the margins. In addition, the verac-
ity of what is written and said about minority groups by members of
dominant groups ought to be questioned and tested against indigenous
accounts (Schröter 2013; Mirza 2015; Surdu 2016; Matache 2017).
This book is important because it centres the voices of Gypsy and
Traveller girls for the first time. There is currently no research that
explores how girls and young women from Gypsy and Traveller com-
munities fare in Scottish schools, and what they think of their experi-
ences. The Scottish Government’s Race Equality Statement (2009)
Preface vii
accepts that Gypsies and Travellers are ‘a particularly discriminated
against and marginalised group’. Within education, research by Wilkin
et al. (2009) indicates that Gypsy and Traveller children are the lowest
achieving minority group in the United Kingdom.
It is against this backdrop that this book seeks to explore how Gypsy
and Traveller girls frame their educational experiences, and to address a
gap in the literature in which their experiences are misrecognised and
erased through non-recognition. It offers space for their gendered voices
to be heard, an ‘oppositional gaze’ (hooks 1992) to that of the domi-
nant voices of politicians, policy makers, headteachers, teachers, activ-
ists, parents and families. It raises awareness of how these young people
are caught at the harsh end and at times suffer or negotiate residual
trauma associated with the endless cycle of cultural violence against a
community marginalised for centuries. Crucially, the girls’ stories also
highlight their agency in the private spaces of home and the public
spaces of education. Their coping strategies, including self-segregation,
epitomise a gesture of resistance toward the oppression of minorities by
the doubly intensive gendering and racialisation of women.
Their narratives contribute to our understanding of Gypsy and
Traveller education in general, how their needs are not being met and
why. Whilst in the spirit of inclusion, they are not formally segregated
from State schools, the very nature of the education system and the
people who work within it serve to physically and emotionally alienate
and disempower through institutional and individual racism, ageism,
gender and class discrimination. This book reveals that our educa-
tion systems and their often laudable policies, which form the cradle
of ideas, like inclusion, equity and excellence, can actually exacerbate
exclusion, inequity and flawed deficiency.
I am not a Gypsy or Traveller and would be considered ‘a gaujo’
(outsider) by these communities. This book does not pretend to repre-
sent, replace or undermine the authenticity of the lives of Gypsies and
Travellers. Following Spivak’s (1988) advice, this book ‘represents’ the
experiences and perspectives of the Gypsy and Traveller girls I met,
their aspirations and the challenges they faced. It is a collection and
exploration of the girls’ accounts of their lives written from a gaujo’s
viii Preface
perspective, but as I explain later, I was also an empathetic observer,
‘consciously partial’ (Mies 1983: 126).
Our comprehension of Gypsies and Travellers in Scotland remains
underdeveloped for several reasons. The hegemonic interpretations of
Gypsies and Travellers are riddled with misperceptions and racialised
assumptions that all Scottish Gypsies and Travellers are the same, that
their experiences are largely negative, that they are poor and require
access to benefits and that they are not a minority ethnic group, just a
troublesome class of Scots (Clark 2001, 2006; Coxhead 2007). Given
this complex background, the Economic and Social Research Council
together with the Scottish Government provided joint funding that has
culminated in this study to enhance understanding of Scottish Gypsy
and Traveller lives. The book is therefore made possible by their gen-
erous funding, and for identifying the need to improve understanding
of the lives of Travelling Peoples in Scotland. I was pleased to use my
experience in education together with a longstanding interest in issues
concerning marginalisation (my own included) to explore the voices of
Gypsy and Traveller girls. This labyrinthine research journey first as a
doctoral student at Edinburgh university, and then as a Lecturer at the
University of Glasgow, continuing to develop my research and work-
ing with Gypsy and Traveller communities, has been both arduous and
exciting.
This study presented real demands that I had never directly faced
before in my professional life. Because of the mistrust which has grown
up over generations between Gypsies, Travellers and the settled com-
munity, influenced by issues around rejection and cultural difference, it
took twelve months to establish a dialogue with both parents and the
girls, before permissions were granted to undertake 13 semi-structured
interviews which form the heart of this research, and a focus group
discussion with four other Gypsy and Traveller girls. I also conducted
discussions and interviews with 30 stakeholders, including teach-
ers and policy makers, who provided valuable background informa-
tion. Gaining access via stakeholders in third sector organisations who
worked with these communities was instructive. For many reasons
which I will discuss in the book, there were walls of silence and barriers
that were difficult to overcome.
Preface ix
The book is divided into eight chapters, the first of which introduces
the subject and establishes the perimeters of the study. In Chapter 2,
I offer a critical overview of the background historical knowledge and
the main themes present in the literature on Gypsies and Travellers in
the UK and in Scotland, and how both sit within the European con-
text. I provide an account of the main groups and their identities and
highlight how problematic this is for many concerned. Gypsies and
Travellers are not one homogeneous entity, but rather different groups
each with their own languages, lifestyles, cultures and ways of expressing
their unique identities. I present a review of the minimal literature on
Gypsy and Traveller women, which indicates the degree to which their
perspectives are missing from the record. In Chapter 3, an explanation
of the Scottish legal context for enrolment and attendance in school is
established, and scholarly works and reports on the educational experi-
ences of Gypsies and Travellers are examined.
Chapter 4 details decisions I made when conducting this research
over a period of three years which clarify the complexities involved in
working with communities that have been marginalised for centuries
and to which the researcher does not belong. It represents the nested
narrative of the research process itself that revealed the stories of the
girls’ lives and experiences. Beginning with a justification for the use of
a black feminist intersectional framework in which to situate and ana-
lyse my findings, I highlight issues around sampling, strategies used to
gain access to research participants and the ethical considerations and
sensitivities surrounding research with children from minority ethnic
backgrounds.
The findings that emerge from the research and the analysis of that
data are presented and discussed in Chapter 5, using a typology of
intersecting systems of structural/institutional (school), hegemonic
(family and community culture) and interpersonal (family and per-
sonal) oppressions as advocated by Collins (2000: 276). I address how
Gypsy and Traveller girls frame their educational experiences, fore-
grounding the girls’ own definitions and understandings of education
and learning, as it forms a useful backdrop upon which the tapestry of
their lives is woven. An explanation of the types of educational estab-
lishments to which the Gypsy and Traveller girls have access, their